I started this blog to follow my training and subsequent charity cycle ride from Bangkok to Saigon in November 2008. In 2009 I went cycling in India in November. Although a motorist ran into me in February earlier that year and broke my collar bone, which nearly ended that ambition! I did not manage any cycling tours in 2010 or 2011 so I am hoping to do LeJog again and then cycle in Japan after that.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Geeky Cycling thoughts

As the weather changes from Summer to Autumn (Fall) I find I have to change the way I think about cycling. For one thing I have to wear more clothing. Well I don't have to, but whilst I would not think of myself as a fair-weather cyclist I do like to be warm enough. Also as the days get gloomier and the nights draw in both lighting and bright clothing become important factors. Mind you, you pedestrians should also wear reflective materials in the dark as well - Highway Code Rule 3. It is funny but cyclists get derogatory comments from motorists for their stylish Lycra wear, but then moaned at for wearing fluorescent yellow sashes - the classic look for a nerdy cyclist. (Sorry to those of you who do this - my approach is to wear a full fluorescent yellow jacket and shut my eyes!)

Why does this matter - well because there are people in charge of fast metal boxes and they need all the help they can get to co-exist with other road users. The good news is that cycling deaths are continuing to fall in 2009. The rather sobering news is that 2,222 people were killed in road accidents last year along with 24,690 seriously injured (out of 222,146 injured people). Out of this total there were 104 cyclists killed and 2,606 cyclists seriously injured. The challenge though is raw numbers do not tell the whole story about cause and effect. (Perhaps threre were fewer cars about - actually there were.) Worryingly, for me anyway, 25 cyclists were killed and 310 seriously injured by drivers passing too close. Also exceeding the speed limit was seen as a contributory accident in 5% of reported accidents and 17% of fatal accidents.

I also saw a report that suggested that Road Injuries and fatalities cost the UK economy £33bn in 2009. Yet Government targets for reducing road deaths and serous injuries only run until 2010. I know the new Government is busy - but this is rather worrying. Interestingly another report suggested that the "vast majority of drivers were found to support lower limits" and it also suggested that enforcement was the key measure to help motorists drive more slowly. Which of course is not the direction being headed in by the current Government. Apparently Speed cameras "don't stop real danger motorists" and more patrols are needed. I do think that average speed cameras have had a major effect on reducing speeding on motorway roadworks and up the A14 between Cambridge and Huntingdon. Mind you I would not cycle along that bit of the A14 - far too noisy. It was sad to see that Harry carpenter died after "falling down the stairs and suffering a catastrophic head injury". However he had an acute heart attack at the top of the stairs which caused the fall. No call from the Mail for stair-users to wear helmets though.

Have Google invested in the future of cycling? It would keep you dry but I am not sure how you would overtake though. Why am I rabbiting on about this - well I read Cycling stuff, for amusement and inspiration. How about this 6 months to cycle around the world and break the speed record. during his trip he used 13 tyres., 11 chains and 3 sets of bottom bracket bearings. I think I'll stick to NCN routes around the UK.

Talking of inspiration my cycling has been a bit patchy of late because of holidays and weather and other stuff getting in the way. So I thought I'd better check my stats for the year to date. Actually it is not so bad. As of the 27th of September I have cycled 9,192Km and based upon a daily goal have a surplus of 381Km in order to reach my target of 12,000Km for the year. August was a tricky month though with a total distance of only 547Km, it has picked up in September with a total so far of 878Km.

Here is a chart from my Cycl;ing Spreadsheet (I know I am a geeky cycling nerd - but it keeps me cycling!). The chart shows the date and distance cycled during the year. I have only had one long distance ride with a 200Km run in April. In fact I have had very few 100Km+ rides this year compared with other years. I would normally expect to do one or two a month.

Still there is still time to go in the year and after the last couple of days of rain it looks dry out there - I think I'll go for a ride!

About Me

I have been cycling for what seems like for ever and been interested in taking pictures since I was around 15. My first proper bicycle was a Falcon with 5 gears and my first proper camera a Canon AT1. A few years (quite a few) later and I have several bicycles (a generous definition of several), including two hand-built for me and I used to have a 12megapixel Canon EOS D5.
I started life as a researcher after studying physics, I designed silicon chips (and GaAs). Ten years on I moved into Sales and got to travel the world. I then moved into Operational Management.
My philosophy of life boils down to "treat others as you want to be treated" and that "structure provides a framework to push and experiment" and "work hard to be happy" and finally "take opportunities, but do not expect them all to work out".
I am worried about where the planet is going - global warming is real. We are also using all the planet's fossil resources without enough attention being paid to the development of renewable sources of energy